Thousands of pastors from around the globe have been challenged to reach one billion people with the gospel. Last month, ministers gathered in Orlando, Florida, during the Global Pastors Network (GPN) Billion Soul Partners Conference.
The pastors heard from Christian and business leaders who provided strategies for fulfilling the Great Commission within the next decade. James Davis, co-founder and president of GPN, says those attending the conference were encouraged to plant churches in unreached areas of the world and reach out to people who have yet to hear the good news about Jesus Christ.
"The Great Commission is so big," Davis notes. "There are so many people in the world who do not know the Lord that one single organization by itself will never be able to finish the assignment. We're thankful there's 1.2 billion Christians in the world; but there's still 5.3 billion lost, and there's still 1.8 billion who have never heard the gospel for the first time."
The GPN spokesman says the "Great Commission" mandate to preach the gospel to people of every nation in the world is within reach, if God's people will only cooperate. "It is unacceptable for people to live in darkness when we have the opportunity to take to them the marvelous light," he insists.
"The vision is that we can work together," Davis continues. "We can network, train, and focus together, sharing key resources that others have with others who don't have. Thus, he says, believers "can strategically work in areas where the church is not so we can get closer to the finish line with the Great Commission."
More than 2,000 pastors representing more than 40 denominations attended the GPN Billion Soul Partners Conference in January. Davis says participants were encouraged not only to equip their congregations to win people to Christ, but also to help reach the goal of planting five million churches in unreached areas of the world in the next decade.
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